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Dice provide great illustrations for concepts in probability. The most commonly used dice are cubes with six sides. Here, we will see how to calculate probabilities for rolling three standard dice. It is a relatively standard problem to calculate the probability of the sum obtained by rolling two dice. There are a total of 36 different rolls with two dice, with any sum from 2 to 12 possible. How does the problem change if we add more dice? Just as one die has six outcomes and two dice have 62 = 36 outcomes, the probability experiment of rolling three dice has 63 = 216 outcomes. This idea generalizes further for more dice. If we roll n dice then there are 6n outcomes. We can also consider the possible sums from rolling several dice. The smallest possible sum occurs when all of the dice are the smallest, or one each. This gives a sum of three when we are rolling three dice. The greatest number on a die is six, which means that the greatest possible sum occurs when all three dice are sixes. The sum of this situation is 18. When n dice are rolled, the least possible sum is n and the greatest possible sum is 6n.
As discussed above, for three dice the possible sums include every number from three to 18. The probabilities can be calculated by using counting strategies and recognizing that we are looking for ways to partition a number into exactly three whole numbers. For example, the only way to obtain a sum of three is 3 = 1 + 1 + 1. Since each die is independent from the others, a sum such as four can be obtained in three different ways:
Further counting arguments can be used to find the number of ways of forming the other sums. The partitions for each sum follow:
When three different numbers form the partition, such as 7 = 1 + 2 + 4, there are 3! (3x2x1) different ways of permuting these numbers. So this would count toward three outcomes in the sample space. When two different numbers form the partition, then there are three different ways of permuting these numbers. We divide the total number of ways to obtain each sum by the total number of outcomes in the sample space, or 216. The results are:
As can be seen, the extreme values of 3 and 18 are least probable. The sums that are exactly in the middle are the most probable. This corresponds to what was observed when two dice were rolled.
Your probabilities are wrong. For each value of die 1, there are 6 possible values of die 2, the available scores for a roll of two dice are: (7 is the most likely score) 2,3,4,5,6,7 3,4,5,6,7,8 4,5,6,7,8,9 5,6,7,8,9,10 6,7,8,9,10,11 7,8,9,10,11,12So, out of the 36 total possible outcomes, 33 of them have a value of 4 or higher, or 33:36, or 11:12
Contents: Watch the video for three examples: Probability: Dice Rolling Examples Watch this video on YouTube. Can’t see the video? Click here. Need help with a homework question? Check out our tutoring page! Dice roll probability: 6 Sided Dice ExampleIt’s very common to find questions about dice rolling in probability and statistics. You might be asked the probability of rolling a variety of results for a 6 Sided Dice: five and a seven, a double twelve, or a double-six. While you *could* technically use a formula or two (like a combinations formula), you really have to understand each number that goes into the formula; and that’s not always simple. By far the easiest (visual) way to solve these types of problems (ones that involve finding the probability of rolling a certain combination or set of numbers) is by writing out a sample space. Dice Roll Probability for 6 Sided Dice: Sample SpacesA sample space is just the set of all possible results. In simple terms, you have to figure out every possibility for what might happen. With dice rolling, your sample space is going to be every possible dice roll. Example question: What is the probability of rolling a 4 or 7 for two 6 sided dice? In order to know what the odds are of rolling a 4 or a 7 from a set of two dice, you first need to find out all the possible combinations. You could roll a double one [1][1], or a one and a two [1][2]. In fact, there are 36 possible combinations. Dice Rolling Probability: StepsStep 1: Write out your sample space (i.e. all of the possible results). For two dice, the 36 different possibilities are: [1][1], [1][2], [1][3], [1][4], [1][5], [1][6], [2][1], [2][2], [2][3], [2][4], [2][5], [2][6], [3][1], [3][2], [3][3], [3][4], [3][5], [3][6], [4][1], [4][2], [4][3], [4][4], [4][5], [4][6], [5][1], [5][2], [5][3], [5][4], [5][5], [5][6], [6][1], [6][2], [6][3], [6][4], [6][5], [6][6]. Step 2: Look at your sample space and find how many add up to 4 or 7 (because we’re looking for the probability of rolling one of those numbers). The rolls that add up to 4 or 7 are in bold: [1][1], [1][2], [1][3], [1][4], [1][5], [1][6], There are 9 possible combinations. Step 3: Take the answer from step 2, and divide it by the size of your total sample space from step 1. What I mean by the “size of your sample space” is just all of the possible combinations you listed. In this case, Step 1 had 36 possibilities, so: 9 / 36 = .25 You’re done! Two (6-sided) dice roll probability tableThe following table shows the probabilities for rolling a certain number with a two-dice roll. If you want the probabilities of rolling a set of numbers (e.g. a 4 and 7, or 5 and 6), add the probabilities from the table together. For example, if you wanted to know the probability of rolling a 4, or a 7:
Probability of rolling a certain number or less for two 6-sided dice.
Dice Roll Probability TablesContents: Probability of a certain number with a Single Die.
Probability of rolling a certain number or less with one die.
Probability of rolling less than certain number with one die.
Probability of rolling a certain number or more.
Probability of rolling more than a certain number (e.g. roll more than a 5).
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Visit out our statistics YouTube channel for hundreds of probability and statistics help videos! ReferencesDodge, Y. (2008). The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics. Springer.
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